Ilaix Moriba and the Barça youngsters involved in Copa del Rey

Ilaix Moriba and the Barça youngsters involved in Copa del Rey

Midfielder Ilaix makes his debut against Cornella with other B teamers on the bench

Ronald Koeman called up five Barça B players for Thursday's Copa del Rey game against third division Cornella.

Arnau Tenas, Óscar Mingueza, Ilaix Moriba, Konrad de la Fuente and Álex Collado were the players rewarded for their performances in training.

Barça are playing for a place in the last 16 and will have to be careful against a Cornella side that knocked Atletico Madrid out in the last round.

If Atletico's loss didn't serve as a warning to Koeman's side, then perhaps Real Madrid's elimination at the hands of Segunda B side Alcoyano on Wednesday did.

Even so, Koeman has still taken the chance to make changes, with Mingueza and Ilaix both starting, along with the likes of Neto, Riqui Puig and Francisco Trincao.

ÁLEX COLLADO

The best player in Barça B. Now recovered from an injury, he's been training with the first team this week. Starting from the right, he leads the attack for the reserves. Without going further, he's already scored against Cornella this season. He could have minutes off the bench and has already featured for the first team in the past under Ernesto Valverde.

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ILAIX MORIBA

Makes his first-team debut against Cornella after turning 18 this week. Lines up in midfielder with Pjanic and Riqui Puig. Like Collado, know what it takes to play and win at Cornella and Koeman considered that when picking him. He fulfils his dream of debuting for the first-team after coming through La Masia. A midfielder with a great touch and good physique to fit straight in at this level. There's a lot of hope deposited in him.

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KONRAD DE LA FUENTE

Some thought he would start but Koeman preferred to give minutes to Trincao, alongside Braithwaite and Griezmann, in the end. However, Konrad could still feature of the bench. The United States forward has been training with the first team since the summer and made his debut in the Champions League, although he's still not played in La Liga.

ÓSCAR MINGUEZA

Formed in La Masia, Mingueza's been a regular in recent weeks due to injuries in defence. The centre-back has also played at right-back at times and has delivered for Koeman. He will play as a full-back against Cornella, with Sergi Roberto and Sergiño Dest injured.

ARNAU TENAS

The fifth and final B team player is the one most unlikely to come on. Tenas will be the third-choice goalkeeper. However, big things are expected from the stopper moving forward.

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